The meeting was called to order
by Mayor Tipton with the Reverend Darrell Bailey leading in prayer. The draft
copy of the February 18, 2010 council meeting minutes were reviewed. Councilman
Crosby made a motion to approve said minutes, Councilman Baxter seconded the
motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Councilman Myrick then made a
motion to approve the agenda of the March 4, 2010 council agenda. Councilman
Kerby seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes

Mayor Tipton recognized Dr. John
King, Principal of the Bloomingdale Elementary School, who updated council on
plans for the 2010/2011 school year. Dr. King reported that the Bloomingdale
Elementary School would be changed to a neighborhood school which should be a
tremendous help with traffic and parking problems experienced in the past. Dr.
King stated that with the change, the number of students would reduce from
between 700-800 to 300-400. He also provided information on repairs that would
take place that included a new roof, updated bathrooms, a general cleanup of the
building and campus, and work on the turnaround at the end of the parking lot.
Dr. King thanked the Mayor and Council for the support they had provided to the
Bloomingdale Elementary School.

Under administrative and
committee reports, Councilwoman Griffin reported that the construction work at
Taylor Park was almost finished. She informed council that at the March 1, 2010
Recreation Executive Board meeting, members had discussed the many citizens who
had contributed their time and monies to the recreation program over the years
giving specific recognition to Judge Hearn who passed away on Tuesday morning,
March 2nd. Councilwoman Griffin noted that softball/baseball signups
were underway with the season to begin soon and stated that at the board meeting
members had asked that council earmark funds in the upcoming SPLOST receipts for
construction of a gymnasium. Councilman Baxter reported that he had met with
Kern-Coleman & Co. and they had made some adjustments to their proposal for
engineering and architectural services for the fire station and the information
would be presented under new business. Mayor Tipton stated that the Recreation
Committee was discussing the possibility of purchasing some playground equipment
for the Bloomingdale Community Park. The Mayor noted that they had also
discussed having some signage changed and the opening of the bathrooms during
the day to promote more usage of the park. Councilman Rawlings reported that
the History Society meeting would be held on Monday and asked that council
pursue the use of the building next to the community building for meetings of
this group and others that may qualify. The Mayor asked Ernie Grizzard to look
over the building to see what type repairs would be needed to use it as meeting
space and report back to council at the next meeting. Attorney Dickey advised
council that the Service Delivery Strategy for Chatham County had been signed
and submitted after adjustments were made to the Fire Service Districts map.
Councilman Crosby stated that Fire Chief Tyler was working on obtaining the
names and addresses of the property owners in the unincorporated areas of the
county being served by the Bloomingdale Fire Department to submit to the county
for reimbursement of service fees to the City. Councilman Baxter noted that the
original agreement with Chatham County for the fire department to serve the
unincorporated area was made when the department was a private entity, but now
that it is owned and operated by the City, he felt the agreement was null and
void. Attorney Dickey stated that he was probably right and agreed the City
would need to approach Chatham County about providing compensation to the City
for the fire protection services. Fire Chief Tyler stated that the cities of
Port Wentworth and Garden City were currently in negotiations with the county to
compensate them for the areas in unincorporated Chatham County that they were
serving with fire protection and advised council that the City needed to have an
elected official representing Bloomingdale in similar negotiations. Fire Chief
Tyler reported that there were about 70 structures being served in
unincorporated Chatham County with at least 95% being residences. The areas
included were on Osteen Road past the bridge across I-16 to John Carter Road.
Mayor Tipton asked Councilman Baxter, as Chairman of the Public Safety
Committee, to represent Bloomingdale in these negotiations and he agreed. Mayor
Tipton advised council that he anticipated some of the residents living along
John Carter Road to approach the City once again about annexation. During the
reports, Citizen Jim Meyers questioned the need to have the Bloomingdale Fire
Department soliciting funds on U.S. Hwy 80 and Cherry Street since he felt the
City should be providing them the monies necessary to operate the department.
Mr. Meyers also pointed out that he felt this was not safe for the motorists or
the fire department members. Councilman Myrick stated that the fire department
had not been collecting monies for the operation of the fire department. Fire
Chief Tyler commented that the Explorers were involved in a national collection
drive for MDA. Mayor Tipton pointed out that there had already been discussions
about eliminating this type activity due to safety concerns and any exception to
this policy would require coordination through the Public Safety Committee.
Councilman Myrick reminded those present that it was imperative that everyone
complete their U.S. Census 2010 forms so there could be a good count of our
citizens. Councilman Crosby noted there would be a Planning Commission meeting
on March 9th and invited interested parties to attend.

OLD BUSINESS:

Mayor Tipton stated that
Councilman Baxter had a report on the proposal from Kern-Coleman & Co. regarding
engineering for the fire station. Councilman Kerby advised council that since
he planned to bid on the fire station project he would excuse himself from any
discussion of this issue and left the podium. Councilman Baxter reported that
when he had met with representatives from Kern-Coleman & Co. to discuss their
initial proposal, he advised them that the City felt there was room for
improvement on the cost estimate to perform the engineering and architectural
work and asked that they revise their proposal. Kern-Coleman & Co. had
presented another proposal that he felt was more in line at about 6% of the cost
of the project. Councilman Baxter stated that Kern-Coleman & Co.ís revised
proposal for professional engineering and architectural services for the
Bloomingdale Fire Station Update was $19,750 and he made a motion to accept it.
Councilman Crosby seconded the motion and it passed with five affirmative votes
from Council members Baxter, Crosby, Griffin, Myrick and Rawlings. Councilman
Kerby abstained from voting.

Attorney Dickey reported that he
was in the process of contacting the members of the Impact Fee Study Committee
concerning the amendment to the Impact Fee Ordinance and noted that the City
needed to have two public hearings before approval of the amendment. Mayor
Tipton asked Attorney Dickey to proceed with the hearings as soon as possible.

Councilman Myrick stated that at
the February 18th meeting, he had requested council table a decision
on the acceptance of the bid for fuel purchases because he expected to receive a
comparable bid from the current vendor, however, the bid was not received, so he
made a motion that this matter be removed from the table and that the City
accept the low bid from Strickland Oil Co. Councilman Baxter seconded the
motion and the motion passed with six affirmative votes.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mayor Tipton recognized the
Reverend Darrell Bailey from Bloomingdale First Baptist Church who had submitted
a request regarding the use of the Bloomingdale Community Park for an egg hunt.
Reverend Bailey stated that his initial request was for the City to waive the
rental fee for the use of the park on April 3, 2010 from 2:00pm until 6:00pm;
however, he had received a donation for the fee and was withdrawing this
request. Reverend Bailey asked that the City consider the waiver of fees for
the use of the park for churches, preschools, or other non-profit agencies if
any changes were made to the rental policies in the future. Council asked
Attorney Dickey to review the current policy and prepare an amendment for
councilís consideration that would allow for the waiver of fees for non-profit
organizations.

Council discussed engineering for
Phase II of the Cityís Master Drainage Plan. Councilman Baxter stated that
during the pre-agenda meeting he had suggested the City seriously consider using
the engineering firm of HGB for Phase II of the plan, however, he would prefer
to table a decision on the issue until after council could have a work retreat
to discuss this as well as other issues. Councilman Kerby made a motion to
table this issue until after council has a work retreat, Councilman Myrick
seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes. Mayor Tipton
recognized Ray Pittman with Thomas & Hutton Engineering, Inc. and the Mayor
asked if council would allow him to present information from this firm regarding
Phase II of the plan and there was no objection from council members. Mr.
Pittman stated that he had been with the firm since 1986. He stated that when T
& H presented their proposal for the Cityís Master Drainage Plan, their
recommendation had been to proceed with the development of a major outfall
before working on the smaller canals and ditches. Mr. Pittman commented that
with the amount of rain that has fallen in the last several months he felt that
everyone would agree that the canal was working and the drainage in that area
was much better than it was before it was constructed. Mr. Pittman advised
council that there were some critical issues that needed to be addressed in
Phase II and his firm would welcome the opportunity to complete the drainage
project. He pointed out that they had already surveyed the existing conditions
and been involved in the drainage issues during Phase I and felt they could do a
better job for the City because of their knowledge of the area. Council
questioned whether there had been any design work done on Phase II and was
advised that although there had been no official design prepared, Thomas &
Hutton had done a lot of field work in the preparation of plans for Phase I and
a general exhibit had been presented to council. Councilwoman Griffin
questioned him about design plans for Phase II because she thought she recalled
seeing easement detail information on the second phase during review of
information on Phase I. She was advised by the engineers that there were no
design plans presented to the City. Doyle Kelley stated that T & H had a
working model they had used in their calculations, but when asked if the City of
Bloomingdale had paid for the model he advised council that the City had not
paid for it. Councilman Baxter commented that he was not interested in
advertising for bids on the engineering work. Councilwoman Griffin stated that
she wanted to assure the citizens that she was not against the Cityís drainage
plan, but wants to fully understand the process before moving forward.
Councilman Rawlings pointed out that although the location of Phase I was not
his choice of routes, the canal does work and he would do his part to get Phase
II constructed to provide drainage relief for the citizens. Councilman Myrick
stated that he felt that whatever decision was made regarding the engineering
for Phase II, that the Mayor and City Council would make the best choice for the
citizens.

Council was advised there had
been concerns raised about the Bloomingdale Community Park not being used as
much as was originally anticipated and some felt it was due to the lack of
playground equipment and the bathrooms not being opened during the day.
Councilwoman Griffin stated that the Recreation Committee had met and discussed
obtaining some playground equipment that would be suitable for the park.
Councilwoman Griffin informed council that she had been looking at playground
equipment at various parks and after talking with committee members, it was
determined that the City could obtain equipment for around $15,000 and would
like to proceed with the purchase. Citizen William McCarty asked if the park
would be supervised in the event a child was hurt and for liability purposes and
was advised that there were no immediate plans to have a supervisor at the
park. It was noted that the City would probably need to post a sign at the park
that those using the equipment would do so at their own risk. The Mayor pointed
out that the playground equipment being considered was constructed for use by
children between the ages of two and twelve and felt that there would be parents
or older siblings at the park with these children. There was a brief discussion
about the possibility of getting some citizens to supervise activity at the
park. Councilwoman Griffin stated that there was a possibility that the metal
playground equipment in front of the school could be donated for use at the park
by the Bloomingdale Lionís Club. Councilman Baxter noted that GIRMA, the Cityís
insurance provider, may question the safety of metal equipment since the older
items did not have the protection against injuries that would be installed on
the newer equipment. Councilman Myrick pointed out that a representative from
one of the playground equipment companies would be meeting with the committee on
Monday night and he would probably be able to give them some guidance on the use
of the metal playground equipment. Councilman Baxter stated that he would like
to make sure that the City had the funds to purchase the equipment beforehand
and would like to postpone a decision until the council could review the
finances. He suggested a work session be scheduled for discussion of the
finances before moving forward. After additional discussion, Councilwoman
Griffin made a motion to purchase playground equipment in an amount not to
exceed $15,000 and to amend the budget to obtain the monies from general funds
on hand. Councilman Rawlings seconded the motion. The motion received three
affirmative votes from Council members Griffin, Kerby and Rawlings. Council
members Baxter, Crosby, and Myrick voted against the motion. Those members
voting against the motion assured the committee that they supported getting the
equipment, but wanted to make sure the Cityís finances would warrant the
purchase at this time. Mayor Tipton stated that he supported the committees
request to purchase the playground equipment and voted for the motion.

Mayor Tipton stated that this
concluded the items presented for consideration for inclusion on the council
agenda prior to the deadline of Friday, February 26, 2010.

The accounts payable were
reviewed. Councilman Myrick made a motion to pay the bills, Councilman Baxter
seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.

Being no further business,
Councilman Kerby made a motion to adjourn at 8:00pm. Councilwoman Griffin
seconded the motion and it passed with six affirmative votes.

Respectfully submitted,
Sandra Jones, City Clerk

Mayor Tipton and all council
members were present at the meeting.

Note:
Section ß 50-14-1 of the Official Code of the State of Georgia Annotated
requires that the minutes shall, as a minimum, include a description of each
motion or other proposal made, and a record of all votes. These minutes meet
the minimum requirements. However, in an attempt to provide as much information
as possible to the citizens, the recording clerk has included additional
background data and discussion on the subjects presented to council. The
statements of individuals are not verbatim and may be summary in nature.